BRAND NEW CARD RANGE

I love card shopping. 

There's nothing like finding thee perfect card that has the perfect balance between the design and the text. However I've been struggling more and more to find cool, quirky and unique cards so I decided to create a range of cards that I would like to buy.

I've been super busy creating them and they are finally available from my Etsy shop it's quite nerve wracking making something that you like and then making it available for other people to buy..... or not to buy and / or judge.
I'm a great believer of at least trying and I have already sold a "10 Things I hate about you" card to a customer in Los Angeles and a "Love you to the Moon" card to a customer in London which I am so excited about and it definitly gives you the confidence to carry on trying something new.

What have you tried recently even though you were scared to?
If you can't remember the last time you did, why not make today the day you do! 

THREE IS MY MAGIC NUMBER

Have you ever noticed freaky things that keep happening?

For a while now I keep looking at my digital clock when the minute and the hour is the same;
11:11, 13:13, 16:16. I asked around if anyone else noticed this but they said I'm probably looking at the time constantly and that they are the numbers that I remember.
I couldn't find anything on the significance of this and didn't think anything of it until my sister asked me if I ever look at the time at exactly 11:11 everyday?

OMG YES!

She had found some info about this and it turned out it relates to the ideas or decision your thinking about at that moment, if your unsure of trying something new and you look at the time which is 11:11 you should definitely go for it! It's the Universe giving you the thumbs up, also if you look at the time and it's 11:12 its maybe not the right time and you should hold off.

I became slightly obsessed with this new subject, like the "geek" I am and needed to find out more. I looked into the significance of the numbers that regularly popped up. As well as the times, I was having dreams about triplets, making tea for 3 people and important items being delivered on the 11/11/13, and while I write this I suddenly realised that I have become aware of all this in my 33rd year!

Because 1 and 3 were the most common numbers that were appearing I looked into what they represented and was absolutely astounded by what I read.
The number 1 deals with strong will, positivity and pure energy. It reflects new beginnings and purity. The meaning of 1 represents action of both physical and mental, this combined with it's urgency for new beginnings the recurring pattern of one's indicates a time to exert our natural forces, take action and start a new venture. It encourages us that our action will be rewarded.

The number 3 deals with magic, intuition, fecundity (the intellectual productivity of a creative mind) and advantage. It invokes expression, versitility and pure joy of creativity. 3 is also a time identifier representing past, present and future. Consecutive 3's symbolise a need to express yourself creatively or consider your present directional path. 3 can represent promising new adventures and the assurance of co-operation from others who you may require help from. It symbolises reward and success in most undertakings.

This realisation came at a time when I was demotivated with the direction DeesignGeek was going and knew I needed to make changes to be creatively fulfilled if I was going to continue. Seeing a specific number pattern doesn't necessarily give you exact answers but it definitely provides some support when you work out what they symbolise and become aware of what you are thinking at the time they appear.

I put this into action while rebranding DeesignGeek to ensure everything represented the new services, ambitions and values we would be offering and working on. I had my fonts and colour's chosen and I just needed to bring it all together, for some reason I kept coming back to the idea of including a triangle graphic (something that had never featured in any of my marketing material). I couldn't shift the feeling that it should feature in my branding so I researched the significance of triangles and found that it represents the mind, spirit and body. It can also represent a strong foundation or stability  and to the Greeks it is symbolic of a doorway, of balancing thought and emotion which provides a doorway to higher wisdom.
I couldn't believe that one shape could encompass the values I was trying to represent.
Everything that features in my logo symbolises something and I'm so excited to show you it but I will write a seperate post when I finalise my branding as I feel this post is long enough!

Is there anything that you notice that gives you an invisible thumbs up when you need it?

SOFI IS MY NEW BEST FRIEND

I love a To-Do-List, organising and setting goals but sometimes I get so caught up in the whole list making I forget to tick anything off it and I'm not the only one, only 5% of people who set New Year Resolutions actually maintain them! 
Wowza that's not a lot but it's because we don't actually know the steps you have to follow to achieve long term results, I know I don't. Like I said, defining what I'd like to achieve? no probs, write a list, draw a mind map but then what?

Well I found this process for clarifying your goals once you've defined them and I love it! 
Check it out: First you make sure your goal is SMART:

S: Specific. Set a time / date to your goal.

M: Measurable. If it can't be measured how will you know it's been achieved?

A: Achievable.Make sure it's realistic.

R: Realistic. The goal must be relevant to you and your situation.

T: Time. Set a specific period of time you will work on making it happen.

Once you've done that apply the SOFI goal analysis tool:

S: Strengths. What can you do or already do that can help you achieve your goal.

O:Options. What are the options available to you?

F:Fears. What scares you about this goal.

I: Impediments. What impedes you from achieving this goal.

I have been reading about letting go of fear as I realised that I find it hard to start a new project because I am fearful that 
1. no-one will like it, 2. it will be no good or 3. I might not have ideas. The SOFI tool unveils any hidden reasons that you might not achieve your goal and with this extra insight you have more support and encouragement when you start. It's definitely helped me look at the what fear factors I might throw up in my own way and prepare for that.

There are so many tips for setting goals you can look up but hopefully SOFI will help get you started to make 2014 your year!

THOUGHTS ARE THINGS

I believe in loads of things; 

that red lipstick instantly lifts your mood / the significance of numbers (especially 3) / being kind to strangers / looking on the bright side / Sunday morning lie in's / some sort of after life / good music / good books / family / friends and the law of attraction.

There are different things that can make you feel good if your feeling down but a lot of the time it's external factors that you look to that work for a short time. I was having one of those rubbish weeks that you just can't shift when I came across "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne which talks about the law of attraction, this book is amazing and you need it in your life!
The basic theme is that you attract everything that happens to you, when I first read that it was pretty hard to take in, I was like "Eh, excuse me I don't WANT to feel bad or for crappy things to happen" but then they followed up with "thoughts are things" which hit me between the eyes! 

Of course what you constantly think about and put all your energy into is going to materialise because your not spending any time working on the things you want.

I have been reading about the law of attraction off and on for the last year because it's really hard to work on but I really got into it in November and my 2014 goal is to practise it more regularly. It's already given me loads of great tools on how to deal with difficult situations you come up against, for example if you don't like something you have two options that you can apply; change your attitude or change your behaviour. Situations are rarely black or white and knowing how to handle them when they pop up is empowering and definitely gives you confidence.

I thought I would give you a heads up on what I'm currently geeking about at the mo as it will probably sneak into more of my posts.
I'd love to hear if you're into the law of attraction or have any other tips on how you stay truly positive.

2014 / JANUARY GOALS

We all start off with good intentions from the 1st of January to change our bad habits but this time instead of setting myself 5 big goals to achieve by the end of the year I've decided to state 10 small monthly goals to work on incorporating into my life this month. 

I find it easier to stay motivated and check in with how I'm doing for 4 weeks at a time rather than 52.

Here are the thoughts and actions I will be working on.

1. Live more boldly

2. Be more compassionate

3. Take more risks

4. Forget my fears and follow my dream

5. Meditate every day

6. Follow a low FODMAP diet

7. Drink 2 litres of water a day

8. Write a daily gratitude list

9. Take part in the 5km Park run every Saturday in Jan

10. Do a 30 day photo challenge.

Have you set yourself nay goals for 2014 or have any tips to make sure you achieve them?
I'd love to hear them.

GOODBYE 2013, HELLO 2014

I don't believe in resolutions. I believe in goals.

But I thought I would do a 2013 recap.

For me 2013 was the the year for learning, growth and direction.

It was the year I I fell out of love with Deesigngeek and didn't want to design any more, a scary concept as it is all I have done, 

it defined me.

It turned out it was the type of work I was creating that just wasn't rocking my world any more and I had to take it in a new direction, I tried not to be too hard on myself - sometimes to go forward you have to go back. 

So I got creative, I mean "picking up paintbrushes, pencils and cameras" creative and learnt how to have fun again rather than how much could I sell this for. 

I appreciate that money allows you to travel, buy art materials and have a nice life but does it motivate me? I have to be honest and say a big fat "nope".

For me to get excited about designing it has to bring some beautiful to the world and make someone feel good.

I realised I had put too much importance in work and I started to enjoy life, time with my friends and family and to achieve goals I never thought I would be able to like run a Half marathon. 

I also decided to live positively and started meditating, this helped me to see situations with clarity which had a great knock on effect on my design work and business planning. I had the idea of bringing everything back in-house under the DeesignGeek brand, Graphic design, Illustrating and Photography, it means learning a lot of new skills it will be worth it to ensure I'm creating a truly unique and original brand.

I have learnt to be honest with myself about what I want, the courage to go after it and to see mistakes as opportunities to learn.

2013 was all about learning but 2014 will be all about action, I can't wait!

Have a fabulous New Year! X

IT IS A DARK, DARK WORLD. IF YOUR'E GOING TO BE IN A DARK WORLD, I CAN'T THINK OF ANY BETTER ONE TO BE IN. I THINK I'M VERY LUCKY TO BE IN IT ~ James Gandolfini

ITS BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

Finally putting my Christmas tree up makes me ecstatic! I absolutely love Christmas and thought I'd give you a sneaky peek at my very eclectic decorations.

When I pulled the tree away from the wall to take a better picture it threw some amazing, smoky style shadows on the wall which I got slightly obsessed about. I don't know how I managed to pick my three from about a hundred pics I took!

TGROW THAT DIFFICULT CONVERSATION

I am a happy and positive person and I get on with people. 

Although I dislike confrontation I don't avoid it at all costs and sometimes THAT thing happens that forces you to pull on your big girl pants and have that uncomfortable chat with THAT specific person.

It always astounds me how we still don't really know how to communicate with each other or articulate how we're feeling which means any difficult situations usually result in a shouting match and days of regret about how you reacted and wishing you could have changed the outcome.

A situation recently arose where I felt I was being professionally undermined, I tried to push the feeling away and listened to the little voices that were saying I was being to sensitive and not to worry about it, but I DID worry about it and I knew in my gut that I had to deal with it.

But how? I knew how I didn't want to approach it, not in an embarrassingly emotional way where you don't even get your point across.

The good thing was I had the weekend to think it over, and not in a hamster wheel style of worrying, replaying, worrying and replaying where no action is decided, but in a clear and concise manner.

This all sounded great in my head but I really didn't know where to start so I placed an SOS text to my friend Angela McDougal, I know about 3 Angela's so she is usually simply called "McDougal" and she is AMAZING! Everyone should have a McDougal in their life!

She made me aware of a conversation structuring technique called "TGROW" and it's so good I wanted to share it with everyone!

OK so before the conversation think about the structure it will have by following:

T: Topic. Both parties to agree on the topic that they will talk about. What it the main point of the conversation?

G: Goal. Agree on the goal that you want to achieve.

R: Reality. The reality of the situation of the situation. Each person will have their own perseption of the reality so they will have to discuss the present situation in detail and be specific.

O: Options. Brainstorm as many possible actions to move forward (I did this before I had the conversation so I was prepared). The important thing here is quantity NOT quality. Don't worry about how they would work or be implemented. You are being proactive by giving solutions.

W: Wrap up and when. The conversation must be converted into a decision of what action to take and the timescale of this action.

I have also noticed through conversations with friends that one reason people give for calling a meeting is because they feel another collegue is "incompetent", but before you take this perception personally it's important to know that competence is measured in three things: 1. Knowledge 2. Skills 3. Behaviour

It might be one element of your working style that is out of sync with the company or person but that can be worked on or they might actually be working incompetently.

All of this info definitely helped me take the emotional side out of the situation and come up with a clear and concise plan of action of how to move forward which ensured my positive and professional attitude remained intact. So next time you find yourself in an uncomfortable conversation TGROW it!

Hope it helps you as much as it helped me!

I'M SO GLAD I LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE ARE OCTOBERS.

Autumn is such a short but beautiful season so I took some pics of the changing colour of the trees in Kelvingrove Park (one of my favourite places!) to remind me of this, I also tried to catch images of the leaves as they were falling but my shutter speed skills let me down, maybe next year.

I found some lovely quotes about Autumn too which are so true ~

“Autumn is the hardest season. The leaves are all falling, and they're falling like
they're falling in love with the ground.” 
― Andrea Gibson

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.” 
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” 
― Albert Camus